By BRIAN HATYOKA –
OVER the last 40 years, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been promoting peace and stability among countries in the region.
Peace and stability are pre-conditions for fostering sustainable social and economic development.
SADC comprises 16 member states namely Angola, Botswana, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The mission of SADC is to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through efficient, productive systems, deeper cooperation and integration, good governance and durable peace and security.
This is aimed at ensuring that the region emerges as a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy.
The main objectives of SADC are to achieve economic development, peace and security and growth; alleviate poverty; enhance the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa; and, to support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration.
As stated in Article 5 of the SADC Treaty (1992), the objectives are to be achieved through increased regional integration, built on democratic principles, and equitable and sustainable development.
About 27 years ago, SADC recognised the important role the media plays in ensuring that the mission and objectives of the regional body are attained.
In this regard, the SADC Council of Ministers approved the establishment of the SADC Media Awards in 1995 to recognise best media work in the region.
Since 1996, the SADC secretariat has been coordinating the awards to encourage the media in the region to play a leading role in disseminating information on SADC.
This is meant to support the process of regional co-operation and integration.
The SADC Media Awards are open annually to journalists from the SADC member states in the photo, print, radio and television categories.
One can participate in the awards competition by submitting an entry (photo, television, print article and radio) that promotes SADC regional integration and cooperation to the National Adjudication Committee (NAC), through the national media coordinator.
The NAC meets and selects one best entry in each category and submits them to the Regional Adjudication Committee (RAC) through the SADC secretariat.
In each category, the first prize winner receives US$2,500 while the runner-up receives US$1, 000.
The SADC media awards ceremony is usually held at the beginning of the SADC Summit for Heads of State to recognise and appreciate the key role of the media in the regional agenda.
Sadly, for the past two years, Zambian journalists have not won SADC media awards despite the attractive prize money.
For example, there was no winner from Zambia during the 2021 SADC media awards.
In 2020, Zambia’s Pennipher Sikainda Nyirenda came second (runners’ up) in the television category.
Information and Media Permanent Secretary Kennedy Kalunga expressed his ministry’s concern at the continued reduction of entries for the annual media awards from Zambian journalists.
Mr Kalunga urged the Zambian media to take keen interest in the Awards not only for the purpose of winning but also as part of developing their journalism careers as profession.
He was speaking at Lusaka’s Chaminuka Lodge last week when he officiated at the Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) and website management workshop for journalists and SADC desk officers from different ministries.
The five-day workshop, which was part of the run-up to the launch of the KMS and the SADC Zambia Chapter Website, was aimed at empowering journalists and desk officers with skills to gather, package and upload information on various regional activities on the SADC website.
During the training, desk officers presented SADC flagship projects from their respective Ministries.
Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International, a leading think-tank working on economic and public policy issues, also made a presentation on its project of developing capacity in regional Civil
Society Organisations (CSOs) and their networks to effectively participate in the SADC regional integration process.
Mr Kalunga thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for facilitating the interaction between the Ministry of Information and Media and GIZ in building communication capacity among desk officers and the media.
Basil Hamusokwe, a member of the NAC for SADC Media Awards who facilitated the workshop, urged journalists to write unique and original stories which champion regional integration.
Dr Hamusokwe, a University of Zambia (UNZA) head of Media and Communication Studies, said stories must have an impact on the SADC regional agenda in addition to being fair and objective.
Dr Hamusokwe said judges usually give marks based on content, research, originality, style, grammar and overall impression, among other factors.
“On style, the article should use simple as well as effective and convincing language. It must be compelling,” he said.
He said judges were further looking at the relevance of the message to the regional integration agenda.
“Articles should have logical progression. The writing style of using “he said or she said” doesn’t give proper pointers or sign posts on the flow of articles. Use transitional words or phrases like however, furthermore, among others,” he said.
Dr Hamusokwe urged journalists to acknowledge the source of their information as plagiarism or cheating was not allowed.
“Journalists should read widely before they write because they are researchers. Scribes should not write from an ignorant position. Those who are in the TV or radio category should ensure audio-visuals or audios are of high quality in addition to other guidelines which also apply to the print media,” he said.
Dr Hamusokwe said a high-quality article should have language beauty, good sources, sense of satisfaction in finding an answer to a problem and lead the writer to an appropriate audience.
On picture, Dr Hamusokwe said the images should be related to the subject of regional integration.
He said the pictures and captions published or aired in the media should be interesting, captivating and demonstrate creativity and exclusivity.
Dr Hamusokwe, who also presented on how to write for social media, further underscored the need to generate unique and attractive content for the SADC Website.
A veteran Zambian journalist, Betniko Kayaya, said scribes should be contextual in their writing instead of just putting text to their articles.
Mr Kayaya, a senior media development officer from the Ministry of Information and Media, said stories should have a regional integration connection.
He said journalists must be fair in their writing and focus on a bigger picture of the SADC regional agenda.
On questions from participants regarding how journalists should treat negative SADC stories, Mr Kayaya said there was no harm in writing negative articles provided that the stories were balanced and done in good faith.
Mr Kayaya said it was not a hallmark of a journalist to only write negative or positive stories, adding that scribes should avoid writing stories that appease or hurt others.
“Journalists should not deliberately distort the regional integration spirit by peddling falsehood,” he said.
Senior Public and Media Officer at the Ministry of Information and Media Luu Machila said journalists should suggest solutions to address specific problems in their stories.
Mr Machila, who was the moderator for the workshop, said stories should not leave readers or viewers or listeners with many unanswered questions.
Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) member of staff Joshua Jere, said journalists should not ignore SADC stories which involve labour disputes.
Mr Jere said such stories could be handled uniquely by analyzing prevailing labour conditions in the region.
In a vote of thanks on behalf of participating journalists across Zambia, Cindy Mulomba thanked the Ministry of Information and Media for building capacity in journalists on matters of SADC regional integration.
Ms Mulomba, a journalist working in Luapula Province, urged the ministry to continue equipping scribes with appropriate skills.
Ministry of Agriculture Senior Economist Yotam Nyirenda, who spoke on behalf of SADC desk officers, said there was need to properly package information in a manner that was beneficial to journalists.
Mr Nyirenda urged public officials to promptly release information to the media so that the public appreciates the Government agenda.
The just ended workshop has undoubtedly motivated Zambian journalists to up their game and return to the ‘League’ of winning SADC Media Awards.